Deputy Burger to Brian Brown: You won’t get what you deserve’

Thursday was the “luckiest day” of Brian Brown’s life, Oneida County sheriff’s Deputy Michael Burger said in Oneida County Court. After being convicted of trying to kill Burger following a Rome bank robbery last summer, 32-year-old Brown was sentenced Thursday to 75 years to life in prison instead of the punishment the deputy believes would be more fitting.

Thursday was the “luckiest day” of Brian Brown’s life, Oneida County sheriff’s Deputy Michael Burger said in Oneida County Court.

After being convicted of trying to kill Burger following a Rome bank robbery last summer, 32-year-old Brown was sentenced Thursday to 75 years to life in prison instead of the punishment the deputy believes would be more fitting.

“It’s your lucky day because you won’t get what you deserve,” Burger told Brown. “You deserve for me to give you three shots from 15 feet away.”

The two opened fire on each other shortly after Brown robbed the NBT Bank in Rome July 29, 2010. After Brown had shot Burger in the ankle following a car chase in Marcy, the pained deputy continued to fire back until Brown disappeared into the woods.

“I remember telling myself ‘You’re not getting away,’” Burger recalled in court. “I remember telling myself, ‘I’m not going down today’ … I aimed my gun at you and gave you hell. And what did you do? You ran like a coward.”

Brown was captured in Utica the following day, and a jury found Brown guilty Feb. 7 of 12 charges, including aggravated attempted murder of a police officer, six counts of first-degree robbery for holding up NBT Bank in Rome and Bank of America in Utica on May 27, and several weapon charges.

In front of a courtroom packed with members of law enforcement, including Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol and Undersheriff Robert Swenszkowski, Burger choked back tears as he recalled how a single injury to his foot changed his life forever.

“I once again woke to broken dreams and shattered memories,” Burger said. He can no longer go for a morning jog, take a walk on the beach, enjoy the carpentry work he was skilled at, or reach down to change his baby’s diaper, Burger said.

Burger then thanked his wife for staying strong to care for him, as well as their three children, one of which has already asked, “What’s going to happen to us, Dad, if you can’t go to work?”

As Burger spoke for about 10 minutes, Brown occasionally rolled his eyes or chuckled under his breath with a smirk.

Brian Brown’s attorney, John Leonard, had nothing to say on Brown’s behalf during the sentencing.

Brown brought new meaning to the word “coward,” Burger had said, by robbing people’s hard-earned money from banks, shooting at a police officer and then running away.

But when Judge Michael L. Dwyer asked Brown if he felt any remorse, Brown twisted around Burger’s own words.

“Remorse for what? I never shot Mr. Michael Burger,” Brown replied.

“Everything he said is an act, and a lie,” Brown said about Burger. “He’s the coward. He didn’t do his job. He let me get away.”

Page 2 of 2 - Then just as Brown did during his own testimony at trial, he ignored his own wrongdoings and instead accused the Oneida County judicial system of being “extremely corrupted” and run by law-breakers.

“There’s no real justice,” Brown said. “You just do what you want to do. You punish crime with crime. You’re no different than those you label as criminals.”

Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Kurt Hameline, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone, said the lies Brown has spun in court reflect the kind of desperate, self-serving criminal that he is.

“It’s all about Brian Brown – He didn’t care who he endangered, as long as it was beneficial to him,” Hameline said. And if Brown remained loose any longer, Hameline added, then the community could very well have faced the tragedy of yet another slain police officer, like the murders of New Hartford police Officer Joseph Corr in 2006 and Utica police Officer Thomas Lindsey in 2007.

“He has shown this court that he has a willingness to kill, and that kind of person never belongs on the streets ever again,” Hameline said.